My Life, my photography, my passions
I rode a Harley! Now I can check that off my bucket list. My daughter and I went over a friends house in Omaha this past weekend and had some girl time, some girl chat, and some laughs. Then Kelley’s husband took Jen and I for a ride on his Harley. I’ve always wanted to ride a motorcycle, thought it would be cool, and it was simply AWESOME!!
After ten years of driving Subaru Outbacks I wanted something a little bigger. You see my fiancee is over 6’4″ and an ex-defensive lineman, so a smaller car is not very comfortable. But I was spoiled by driving a Subaru which was all wheel drive.
My goal was to find a smaller domestic 4×4 SUV that got good gas mileage. I live in Nebraska, you might have seen a little of our winters, and I didn’t feel comfortable driving a 2WD. So after doing my research on www.fueleconomy.gov I decided that my decision was a Ford Escape. Isn’t she pretty?
I searched all over the internet for a good deal on a pre-owned car. I had a price range where I wanted to stay and expectations on mileage. Sometimes you just have to throw that out the window when you find a good deal. This 2001 Escape had just been detailed and pictures were just uploaded onto the internet when I saw it. Sometimes you just have to be in the right place at the right time.
Facts: Baxter Jeep Dodge, Omaha (ask for Kenny), 2001 Ford Escape XLS, 69,291 miles, asking $8,950
I knew from all my searches that for an Escape in that price range I wouldn’t be able to find with less than 120,000 miles. I had spent hours looking at other Escapes in the area and none were in this good of shape or as clean. But I had to bargain, and I did, hard. After several hours of deliberation we settled on $7,995.
After driving it to Des Moines the next day it got 22-24 mpg on the highway, not bad for the size vehicle. My Subaru consistently got 25 mpg.
So I drove it off the lot that night. One of the first things I did was buy a Dog Pet Barrier for the back. Although I used a Kurgo dog zip-line I didn’t want anymore dog hair in the back seat. Below is the day I installed it and we went to the park to enjoy the sun and a good book.
Brody has ridden many miles with me back and forth to Lincoln and considering the hyper dog that he is this wouldn’t of been possible without the award-winning dog travel products from Kurgo. I highly recommend them
A sign that spring is on it’s way, foggy days. The farmers around here very much believe in “90 day Fog Days.” Which is supposed to indicate that 90 days after fog there will be precipitation. Since the fog lingered all day, this photo was taken in the later afternoon we should get a lot of rain on May 18th.
This photo was taken looking east on Elmwood Nebraska as the waning sun hit the fields and illuminated the lifting fog.Who said we don’t have high rise buildings. We have grain elevators at the Farmers Co-op.
Photoshop Notes. Standard adjustment layers, smart sharpen 11%, custom saturated the foreground, brightened and contrasted slightly
The Super Target in the Omaha L Street Market is huge! It goes on forever and ever! I went in for a Valentine card, my daughter Birthday card, and socks for my son. Ended up walking a half a mile. Really it did. Never fails, whatever you’re needing is in opposite sections of the store. Then you remember something else you need and trek back to the far section again. This particular store is 174,000 sq feet and one half is the grocery section which I didn’t even venture into on this trip.
I do like Target, much more than Walmart. Target has higher quality items and for a chain department store the home decor section makes me drool. I did resist, I made the conscience decision not to get a cart. That strategy has worked more than once. You can only buy what you can carry.
This store was so bright, clean, such a contrast from the Walmart at the other end of the shopping plaza, which feels like warehouse. Target has an actual finished ceiling, instead of open pipes and heating ducts. The floor is finished and not polished concrete, again like Walmart. Makes the shopping experience so much more relaxing and enjoyable. Maybe the concept is people will feel more comfortable, shop longer and spend more money. I might have, it I had a cart.
Photoshop Notes: In addition to the standard adjustment layers I posterized the image and it really made a difference in the image clarity giving it more depth. The original was looked a dull and boring. I wasn’t getting the same bright crisp effect in the photograph that I got in person. First time experimenting with this function and I’m going to have to use it more often.
In Nebraska snow plus wind equals amazing snowdrifts. I love how the wind creates works of art. The wind travels across miles of empty fields collecting snow and deposits the very dry fine snow into very high drifts. It only takes a few inches to create several feet worth of drifts. This last storm was only six inches but resulted in a few 4-6 foot drifts.
Nothing you want to be out in while it’s blowing, white out conditions with zero visibility created black ice this time and resulted in hundreds of accidents in Omaha and Lincoln. The interstate was closed for a short time. The Elmwood-Murdock school district, and other surrounding towns were closed for two days, one day for the storm, the next to open the many miles of country roads so the buses could get through.
